More

Iron Fist Season 2 Casts Alice Eve in Mystery Role

Iron Fist season 2 is set to begin filming this month, and just as production gets underway, the series adds Alice Eve to its cast in an unspecified but presumably key role. Likely familiar to viewers from her many film and TV roles, including a terrific turn opposite Bryce Dallas Howard in the Black Mirror season 3 episode 'Nosedive', as well as her role as Carol Marcus in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness, Eve's casting may be a sign things are moving in a more positive direction for the series.

Eve joins returning cast members Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, Tom Pelphrey, and Jessica Stroup, as the continuing adventures of Danny Rand get underway in the wake of this summer's eight-episode event series, The Defenders. But season 2 isn't just picking up in the wake of the street-level heroes teaming up to confront the Hand; it's also picking up the pieces from what was a disappointing first outing for the series under former showrunner Scott Buck that was heavily criticized for everything from its casting of Jones to its languorous plot, all of which seemingly revealed a critical weakness in the seemingly indomitable MCU.

First reported by Variety, Eve's casting came with an announcement from the head of Marvel TV, Jeph Loeb, who said, "We are very excited to have an actress of Alice’s stature join the cast of ‘Marvel’s Iron Fist. Her exceptional talent brings an intrigue and danger to her character unlike anyone else." Loeb's comments are deliberately vague and will likely pique the interest of those eager to guess who Eve will play. As has become commonplace with the notoriously secretive productions flying under the Marvel banner, the exact details of her role are being kept under wraps, but an earlier casting announcement for the series may hold the answer to the question of which character she is playing.

A description for the character of Tanya Parker was revealed last week, describing her as "a freelance covert operative" who has "carried out many high-level missions." Parker is also "a chameleon adept at playing roles," and someone who "inhabits the 'part' that best fits the mission." There's been plenty of speculation that Tanya Parker is actually Tanya Adrian – or some version of her – which, if true, would pave the way for the show to introduce Lady Gorgon. If that's the case, it's safe to assume this is the part Eve will be playing, putting her in the role as a primary antagonist for the Iron Fist.

With her ties to the Hand, Lady Gordon makes for a potentially compelling adversary in season 2, one that offers the Netflix series the chance to turn the villainous group into something more interesting than a vague threat made up of ninjas on the prowl for dragon bones. Whatever their shortcomings may be, Netflix's Marvel series have generally done a good job making their villains into more-interesting-than-usual characters, so hopefully incoming showrunner Raven Metzner will deliver something along those lines with Tanya Parker. While that remains to be seen, the odds of Metzner's success will be improved considerably if that is indeed who Alice Eve has been tapped to play.